M. hoops: Basketball still on NCAA Tournament bubble

Though another two games have gone by, the UCLA men’s
basketball team finds itself in the exact same spot.

After splitting their weekend games against the Arizona schools,
the Bruins (13-8, 7-6 Pac-10) remain in fourth place in the Pac-10
and on the precarious bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

A win over Arizona on Saturday would have put UCLA one-half game
ahead of Stanford for third place in the conference. But more
importantly, a victory would have given UCLA a second win over a
top-15 team, something that the team could have marketed to the
NCAA selection committee.

Instead, the loss leaves the Bruins treading water, still in
good position to claim a tournament spot, but needing to prove
themselves deserving of an invitation every game from here on
out.

“You never want to lose at home, but I don’t think
this will hurt us too much,” shooting guard Arron Afflalo
said.

With six regular season games and the Pac-10 Tournament still
remaining, it is doubtful that the loss to No. 12 Arizona will
prove to be UCLA’s undoing.

Two of UCLA’s remaining five conference opponents,
Stanford and Oregon State, are also jockeying for a tournament
berth, and the Bruins realize it will be these upcoming games that
determine UCLA’s fate.

“We just have to take care of business with the rest of
the teams and we’ll be all right,” senior Dijon
Thompson said.

While the Bruins’ position may not have changed much over
the weekend, there was some significant shuffling around UCLA in
the conference.

After two losses in Southern California over the weekend,
Arizona State dropped to 5-8 in the conference and may have played
itself off the bubble and out of the tournament picture.

Meanwhile, Oregon State made a statement to the tournament
selection committee by scoring an impressive win over No. 11
Washington on Sunday that catapulted them to fifth place in the
Pac-10.

With Arizona and Washington presumed locks for the NCAA
Tournament, UCLA will likely be competing for one or two more spots
afforded to Pac-10 teams. Because the Pac-10 boasts the second
strongest RPI in the nation, there will be some pressure for the
selection committee to include four of its teams.

And because the Bruins will face each of their bubble
counterparts one more time, they still have firm control over their
own destiny.

The importance of this weekend’s games in the Bay Area is
not lost on the Bruins, whose recent weekend splits have done
little to solidify or ruin their tournament prospects.

“The pressure was there before,” Afflalo said after
Saturday’s game. “Whether we won this game or not, we
have to go up there and win.”

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